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Summary Of Pierre Boulle's Planet Of The Apes

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No environment will ever stay strange for Man. Man is built to last, adapt, and progress. “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change”-Charles Darwin. In Pierre Boulle’s novel, Planet of The Apes, the characters are faced with the dilemma of having to adjust to the culture and lifestyle of the inhabitants on the planet Soror. Boulle demonstrates that man can assimilate to any environment one finds themselves in, no matter how displaced they are. The protagonist, Ulysse and his companions are forced to adapt when they first arrived to the planet Soror. The characters crossed paths with a human species that was beast like, they had little to no intelligence and relied purely on instinct. Ulysse and his companions were not immediately accepted by the beast like humans. Ulysse exclaims, “We realized we were by no means welcome to share it. Quite the contrary! Angry growls made us draw back quickly” (Boulle 49). On the following page Ulysse explains, “After a moment’s hesitation we grew bold enough to imitate her... Each of us chose a corner in the grass in which to build a nest similar to the others in the colony” (Boulle 50). Ulysse and his crew mates begin to conform themselves to the way of the beast like humans. The characters adapt to the lifestyle so they can be accepted by the people and become a part of their society. Ulysse is continuously assimilating to an environment he is not familiar with. When Ulysse is captured he is furious, when he demonstrates gestures that show that he is not a human beast, the apes do nothing but laugh at him except for one ape. A chimpanzee named Zira, she notices that he was more intelligent than the other humans. Zira started working with Ulysse to explore all his capabilities, she helps him in the ways she can, such as teaching him the language and ways of the apes, in return he helps her. Ulysse states “Thanks to Zira, my knowledge of the simian world and language increased rapidly” (Boulle 125). Ulysse was laughed at, taunted at and looked at crazy by the apes for trying to show his elegance. Being in a society where he was not welcomed, he had to conform to feel

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